‘I’m a scientist’
Notes for parents who
want to work
like scientists with their young
scientists
In my experience as an educator, I appreciated
quickly that, even though being curious is natural for all human beings, most young scientists need help understanding
how to make sense of the science around them. Teachers know that, but don’t
just leave it to your children’s teachers.
Who better to help them than mum and
dad? Any teacher will tell you that your involvement in your children’s
education as a close family member (mother, father, grandparent, caregiver,
home-schooler) is strongly related to their success in school.
And that common
sense view is backed by educational
research: “What families do is more important to student success than whether they
are rich or poor, whether parents have finished high school or not, or whether children are in
elementary, junior high, or high school (Robinson, 1995).
So, you adults, put on your scientist hats, take the time to positively
interact, as learners, as team players, with your children. Nurture their
curiosity - and yours - and their sense
of being scientists. Fan their fire.
How? Well, work with your young scientist on the science activities we’ll be doing, and……
have FUN!!
At the science workshop
·
Give
your young scientist your time, and
·
Start
by ensuring the resources required for the science activities are at hand.
·
Help
(but, careful, don’t be overbearing!)
your young scientist actively engage
in the fun but challenging science activities. Does s/he need help with the
scissors? Using sticky tape? Measuring?
·
Appreciate
that most young scientists have a
need to ask questions about what they see – as talking, it seems, aids
understanding.
·
Know
that your science discussion with your young
scientist will usually raise new and interesting problems, so that one
inquiry leads to another.
·
Encourage
him/her – when it’s appropriate – to act, think, talk, read, draw and, yes,
write like a scientist.
·
Know that when your young scientist uses his/her own efforts to discover something, the
flash of insight seems to give special satisfaction.
And,
why don’t you CAPTURE a Young Scientist MOMENT – forever!
Use
your smartphone to capture special moments………videoing, photographing, recording
the action.
Or,
try this!! I came up with this idea many years ago.
After a
wonderful but windy afternoon walk around the woodland near school, my children
began to talk about the afternoon’s experiences. Dianne said how much she
enjoyed the walk in the long grass around the trees. “Everything was beautiful, Mr. Paull…………….everything smelled dead
good. Did you hear the wind, though? It was making a howling noise and it made
the leaves on the trees shake.” Then she added, wistfully, “Pity we can’t bring back the smells and
the sounds of nature. How could we do that, Mr. Paull?”
That
made me think. Then I had an idea. If you half fill a plastic bottle with water
and then turn the bottle upside down, the water rushes out. For a split second,
there’s nothing in the bottle. Then the air rushes in and fills the bottle. The
air carries everything ……….doesn’t it? J
The
next time we went for a nature walk, I took a bottle half filled with water.
When we reached the tall grass and trees, I turned the bottle upside down and
let the water gush out. As soon as the last drop ran out of the bottle, air
rushed in, filling the vacuum. I immediately pushed in the cork. “Look,” I said, “we have captured the sounds and the smells of nature………forever.”
Dianne was particularly excited when I stuck a label on the bottle:
June 8 /1966. This bottle
holds the smells and sounds of the flowers and the trees around our school.
And
that started something. Every time things were really humming in the classroom,
I filled a bottle with all of the energy, sound, wit and wisdom of my children,
labeled it and displayed it on a shelf.
Try
it – capture one of those special ‘I’m a
scientist’ moments in a bottle!!
HOW? It’s easy. At a critical ‘Oooh,
aaah’ moment, take the top off a tiny bottle. Blow across the top. The
fast-moving air sucks out the air inside the bottle. When you stop blowing, the
air, and the atmosphere of excited learning, rushes in.
Think about what you’ve done! You have captured the time and the I’m a scientist workshop moment, the joy
of your young scientist……forever!
Later,
at home……
· Over the weekend, take
your young scientist out on a
countryside walk. Remember, though, you don’t need to point out and identify
everything. Just take a couple of empty tins and ask your young scientist to fill them with anything that catches his/her
eye.
· When s/he finds
something, use your body language, especially your eyes. Show your young scientists your positive interest
in whatever they pick up from the ground. (I’ve attached a scavenger hunt sheet for you, if you’d like to use it on your walk).
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When you return from your
walk,
· If you can, provide
access to a computer or smartphone so the young
scientists, if they wish, research science questions.
· If you can’t, go to your
local library and help your young
scientists access its children’s science books, its technological and
scientific resources.
And,
why don’t you help your young scientist
make a pocket museum
to
display what s/he collected on the walk?
Pocket
museum? What’s that, then, you
might well ask. Well, many years ago, when teaching a class of 10 and 11 year
olds, we were sharing their treasure tins
at the start of another day. Michael put up his hand and, with a twinkle in his
eye, said, “Like a museum, ain’t it? Me
dad says mine’s a pocket museum. Can we call ‘em pocket museums, Mr. Paull? Go
on, can we?”
Like me, everyone in class thought it was a
great idea to rename the treasure tins. And, so, from that day to this, a tin
containing a personal treasure is a pocket
museum.
Kids love them. Over the years, in loads of
classrooms, making and sharing stacks of pocket
museums has helped me nurture the excitement and joy young scientists naturally feel when interacting with, and learning
more about, the world around them.
So, how do
you make a pocket museum?
All you need is a
small tin, a piece of felt, scissors, glue, and something really cool your young scientist found on your collector’s walk.
·
Cut
the felt to the size that will fit inside your tin.
·
Glue
the felt to the bottom of the tin.
·
Then,
glue the best finds on the felt, and, hey, your young scientist has his/her pocket
museum – which s/he can keep forever.
…………………………………………………………………………..
I
hope you enjoy working in a science team with your young scientists!! My
intent is to spark passion for creative, scientific and technological thinking.
John
Paull
Johnpaull2011@gmail.com
www.mywishingrock.blogspot.com
APPENDIX
‘I’m taking a walk’
When you go for a walk, don’t
disturb the small creatures that live outside. It’s their home.
See if you can find………….
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Something green
Something red
Something yellow
Something brown
Something black
Something pointy
A blade of grass
longer than your index finger
A piece of petrified
wood
An animal track
A piece of bark
A spider web
A feather
A pine cone eaten by
a squirrel
A heart-shaped rock
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A pebble smaller
than a dime
A pebble the same
size as a quarter
A wishing rock
A white pebble
A black pebble
A leaf skeleton
Something a bird
would eat
A dead branch as
long as your thumb
A flower
A flower seed
A tree seed
A twig with pine
bark beetle galleries
Something really,
REALLY cool!
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